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Cancelled Online Games of 2013

As 2013 comes to an end, we take a look back at a few of the online games that met their fate this year.

Each year more games end up in the great gaming graveyard and 2013 was no exception. So join us as we take a look back at a few of the online games whose fates were sealed this year.

Despite boasting more than 300 million registered users, the 2D side-scrolling hack-and-slash title Dungeon Fighter Online was laid to rest in NA back in June when Nexon opted to shut the game down.

Even Scrooge McDuck wasnt rich enough to save Toontown Online. The kid-friendly MMORPG headed to the great animated graveyard back in September when Disney shifted its development focus to other online and mobile games. One casualty of that decision  the citizens of Toontown.

Grimlands, the post-apocalyptic online world from DRAGO Entertainment, suffered a pre-launch apocalypse of its own when publisher gamigo pulled out of the project. Developer DRAGO Entertainment tried to save the game by turning to Kickstarter, but the campaign was cancelled when it failed to gain any momentum after the first two weeks. While the game currently seems to be dead in the water, the only possible saving grace was the final update to the Kickstarter page back in April that stated that the developer was in negotiation with a number of investors to try and revive the project.

Mythos has had an interesting history. The game was originally a tech test at now defunct Flagships Studios. Flagship later went belly-up and Hanbitsoft took control of the property and launched Mythos under publisher Frogster back in April 2011. Frogster shut the game down the following October. But it didnt end there. Hanbitsoft and T3Fun later resurrected the title as Mythos Global. Unfortunately, Mythos is now standing at the precipice of doom once again and is scheduled to shut down for the last time January 22nd, 2014.

Netmarble launched its free-to-play shooter District 187: Sin Streets in NA back in November 2012. But less than a year out on October 3, 2013, Netarble pulled the plug on District 187, just short of its first anniversary and committing a 187 (a police code for murder) of its own.

Bigpoint announced their endeavor to bring a browser-based MMOG following the events of The Mummy Returns movie around mid-2011 with The Mummy Online. The title never managed to unravel itself from beta before Bigpoint sent the Mummy back to his tomb. To be honest, I would be surprised if you had ever even heard of this one as Bigpoint didnt seem to promote it much, and when the plug was pulled earlier this year, it was done without much fanfare. Once it was all over, the only evidence that it had ever existed, at the time, was in a now deleted Facebook and forum post. I guess The Mummy was just too tightly wrapped for its own good. (no more Mummy puns I promise)

It was a bad year if you were a Universal Monster in a Bigpoint game. Bigpoint pulled the plug on its Universal Monsters Online MOBA at the same that they put an end to The Mummy Online. And like The Mummy Online, I wouldnt blame you if you had never heard of it. Both games were poorly promoted and died somewhat quick deaths.

SOE announced a partnership with Wizards of the Coast back in 2009 to create Magic: The Gathering - Tactics, which we got our first look at in 2010. Based on the Magic: The Gathering universe, Tactics is a 3D turn-based strategy game featuring powerful spell cards, single player campaigns, and competitive multiplayer PvP. And while its not technically dead yet, SOE has already putt Magic: The Gathering - Tactics on life support and it will officially meet its demise on March 28th, 2014.

Twisted Tribes multiplayer game Nadirim, first developed by Digital Reality, also met its demise this year. Nadirim, an Arabian-themed fantasy multiplayer game featuring quests, duels, and evil djinn, launched in November 2011. Twisted Tribes made the decision to shut the game down on June 30th, 2013 after 2 years of service.

Even the charismatic Captain Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl couldnt save Pirates of the Caribbean Online from sinking down to Davey Jones Locker. While the MMOG set in the movie series universe allowed players to create their own pirates and captain a ship, Disney loaded up all of the pirates and sailed them out to sea one last time just before sending the game down to its watery grave on September 19th, 2013.

Acony Games and SOE partnered to launch the reality TV-based shooter Bullet Run back in July 2012. I could make a thousand jokes about how reality TV needs to die, but this game did it instead. After only 8 months after its launch, SOE put a bullet in Bullet Run, sending the shooter to that great reality TV show in the sky. After the closure announcement from SOE, developer Acony Games ceased its own support for Bullet Run and the studio later shut down citing "commercial realities" that "made continued support for it unsustainable."

One surprise cancellation this year came by way of EA pulling the plug on Command & Conquer. The free-to-play installment of the franchise was set to include all of the Command & Conquer series from Red Alert to Generals all in one online universe. But that didnt quite work out as planned as EA shuttered developer Victory Studios and shelved the game back in October.

Otherland, the promising free-to-play MMOG based on the works of Tad Williams, was in development by Real U with gamigo set to publish in NA and EU. Based on the novel series of the same name, Otherland included various worlds in a vast multiverse ranging from cyberpunk to medieval. Unfortunately, development on Otherland was unceremoniously brought to an end this year when developer RealU was hit with layoffs when parent company dtp Entertainment entered insolvency.

Gamigo has retained the publishing rights for NA and EU and, according to one of the last gamigo posts on the Otherland forums, theyre hopeful that a deal can be reached to complete the game another way. But for now, Otherland secures its spot on our list with a slight chance of resurrection.

Anyone remember this game? If you dont remember it or have never heard of it its understandable given the games shaky history in development. Take a deep breath folks, this is a long one.

By the time 2012 rolled around, rumors were circulating that the game had been cancelled. THQ denied the rumors, but a few months later the publisher released an announcement that Vigils development focus for Warhammer 40k: Dark Millennium Online had shifted from creating an MMOG to creating an immersive single player and online multiplayer experience with robust digital content, and engaging community features.

When THQ had its big financial blowout in 2012, War40ks development took yet another turn following layoffs. After that, even THQ seemed to have no idea if the game was still in development, cancelled, coming back, or turned into My Little Ponies: Warhammer Edition. Despite unconfrmed speculation (true though it may be) that the project was canned in 2012, we can certainly say that the final decisive nail in the coffin that finally put this unfortunate game out of its long and tormented misery came following the THQ bankruptcy auction back in January, when Vigil Games was one of the few unfortunate fleshy parts left on the rotting corpse that was once THQ. Other publishers picked the rest clean, but Vigil and its team of developers were unfortunately left behind.

Mythics endeavor to dive into the MOBA market with Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes earlier this year came to a bit of a premature end. Wrath of Heroes utilized parts of Warhammer Online to create a PvP-focused three-way battle set up using a free-to-play model with some colorful heroes. But even that couldnt save this game from an early demise. Wrath of Heroes was officially shuttered on March, 29th, 2013 before ever having an official release.

While it wasnt as widely broadcasted as some previous closures, the devoted fans of Warhammer Online tried in vain until the last second to save the game through petitions and other means. But in the end, the plug was pulled on the war and servers went dark for the last time.

Adam Clegg, who formerly worked on Warhammer at EA/Mythic before joining Mark Jacobs at City State Entertainment, has called on EA to release one final build of the game with a developer single player option enabled. While it wont be Warhammer Online without other players, it can serve as a way to preserve the hard work by so many developers. If EA were to do that, it would at least put one positive note on this rather dismal list, but Id be lying if I said that I was optimistic about that ever happening.

And that is the grim list of 2013. Stay tuned to Ten Ton Hammer as we head into 2014 for a new generation of online games and hopefully a shorter list of dead ones in the coming year.